Tag Archives: ocean acidification

Sea Change: Pacific Ocean Takes Perilous Turn

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By Craig Welch, The Seattle Times

Ocean acidification, the lesser-known twin of climate change, threatens to scramble marine life on a scale almost too big to fathom.

NORMANBY ISLAND, Papua New Guinea — Katharina Fabricius plunged from a dive boat into the Pacific Ocean of tomorrow.

She kicked through blue water until she spotted a ceramic tile attached to the bottom of a reef.

A year earlier, the ecologist from the Australian Institute of Marine Science had placed this small square near a fissure in the sea floor where gas bubbles up from the earth. She hoped the next generation of baby corals would settle on it and take root.

Fabricius yanked a knife from her ankle holster, unscrewed the plate and pulled it close. Even underwater the problem was clear. Tiles from healthy reefs nearby were covered with budding coral colonies in starbursts of red, yellow, pink and blue. This plate was coated with a filthy film of algae and fringed with hairy sprigs of seaweed.

Instead of a brilliant new coral reef, what sprouted here resembled a slimy lake bottom.

Isolating the cause was easy. Only one thing separated this spot from the lush tropical reefs a few hundred yards away.

Carbon dioxide.

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Nervous Nemo: Ocean Acidification Could Make Fish Anxious

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By Douglas Maine, December 6th, 2013  Livescience.com

Ocean acidification threatens to make fish, like this juvenile rockfish, more anxious.

Ocean acidification threatens to make fish, like this juvenile rockfish, more anxious.
Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Ocean acidification, which is caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere being absorbed into the sea, has made many worry because of the problems it will likely create, such as a decline in shellfish and coral reefs. But humans may not be alone in their anxiety: Ocean acidification threatens to make fish more anxious as well (and not because they are reading about ocean acidification on LiveScience.com. At least so far as we know.)

A new study found that after being placed for a week in an aquarium with acidic seawater — as acidic as the oceans are expected to be on average in a century’s time — juvenile rockfish spent more time in a darkened corner, a hallmark of fish anxiety, and the same behavior exhibited by fish given an anxiety-inducing drug.

“They behaved the same way as fish made anxious with a chemical,” said Martin Tresguerres, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

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Ocean Acidification Threatens Alaska Red King Crab

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Sept 16th, 2013 Undercurrent News

The very ocean that has nourished Alaska’s prized red king crabs may prove to be the species’ undoing.

New research earlier this year shows that Bristol Bay red king crab — the supersized crustacean that has come to symbolize the fortunes of Alaska’s crab fleet — could fall victim to the changing chemistry of the oceans, reports the Yakima Herald Republic.

A team of scientists fears Alaska’s $100 million red king crab fishery could crash in decades to come unless carbon-dioxide emissions reduce or the creatures acclimate to changing conditions.

That grim possibility also raises alarm about the crab fleet’s other major moneymaker, snow crab.

“With red king crab, it’s all doom and gloom,” Robert Foy, who oversaw the crab research for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Kodiak, told the newspaper. “With snow crab, there’s so little known we just can’t say. But we don’t see anything from our experience that’s good for any of these crab. Some is just not as bad as others.”

There’s no evidence that souring seas have yet altered wild populations — the most corrosive seas now occur at times when red king crab aren’t as susceptible.

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Ocean acidification bill supporters make case to Maine Legislature.

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By Ronald Huber | Jan 13, 2014 The Republican Journal

It was standing room only at the Maine Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee as supporters of  LD 1602  the “Save Our Shellfish” bill, made their case for appointing of a coastwide multisector  committee to study how to reduce the impact of oceanic acidification on Maine species and what proactively to do, fishery by fishery.

Not only were clammers, shellfish farmers and the scientific community evident, The groundfish industry called for the scope to be broadened to consider all Maine marine species from plankton up. A wastewater management too was represented, and a wide spectrum of Maine ENGOs weighed in as well.

The bill’s full title is Resolve, Establishing the Commission To Study the Effects of Ocean Acidification and Its Potential Effects on Commercial Shellfish Harvested and Grown along the Maine Coast“

In addition to  bill sponsor Mick Devin, and DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher,  fifteen members of the public and interest groups testified.

Senator Chris Johnson, committee co-chair, gave the introduction to the public hearing (mp3)

Representative Mick Devin Sponsor laid out the case for LD 1602 spending time money and energy getting up to speed on the impact acidification is having on maine marine and estuarine species.

DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher followed, calling for achievable outcomes, not only another report – bottom line is produce something that will help Maine. (3minutes)

Suzy Arnold of Island Institute spoke next. She noted that the pH of some  Gulf of Maine waters is 30% lower than it was (4min 9sec). If our blood went that that much lower we’d be in a coma, Arnold said. The increased acidity is dissolving shells of baby shellfish. Critical prey like zooplankton are affected too. Crabs seem  okay but have thicker shells and slower growth.  The California rockfish and other fish  exhibit confusion & anxiety when acidified on the west coast.

Arnold said that compared to bivalves, nothing known about lobster acidification. This must be a priority. She said Seagrant & Cooperative extension agreed. She noted that there will be a daylong meeting Thursday in Augusta to ID priorities, and that all are welcome.

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Bill calls for Maine panel to study acid in Gulf

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January 14th, 2014
By North Caim, Portland Press Herald

Speakers at Monday’s hearing say increased carbon dioxide and acid are imperiling shellfish stocks and costing Maine jobs and millions of dollars.

AUGUSTA — Lawmakers are considering a bill that would establish the first formal state commission to study the effects of rising levels of acid in the Gulf of Maine.

Representatives of virtually every Maine fishery – as well as state officials, scientists, the recreation, tourism and wastewater treatment industries, environmentalists, private citizens and lawmakers – packed a public hearing Monday before the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee to advocate for L.D. 1602, which would set up an 11-member commission.

No one testified against the bill.

The commission would study the Gulf of Maine’s increasing acidic waters and seek methods to ease the problem and correct its ill effects, said Rep. Michael Devin, D-Newcastle, who introduced the measure with the support from more than 60 co-sponsors.

Ocean acidification – or the increasing percentage of acid in the ocean waters – has been a growing concern along the coastal U.S., marine scientists have reported.

The commission’s work could be underway by spring if the bill is approved by the Legislature and Gov. Paul LePage. The entire cost is not expected to exceed $25,000 in public and private funding.

Devin said it was impossible to say exactly how much acidification already has hurt fisheries and other businesses, including charter tours and whale-watching boats, that operate in the Gulf of Maine. But if acidification has a significant impact on the lobster industry, the costs to the state’s largest fishery would be substantial, he said.

“If the lobster industry is affected, that’s a billion dollars right there,” said Devin, a member of the Marine Resources Committee.

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Maine’s ocean acidification bill to address harm to Maine’s coast advances

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By Ramona Du Houx.

November 21st, 2013, MaineInsights.com

The Legislative Council on Thursday voted to reverse an earlier decision to reject a bill to address ocean acidification for the upcoming legislative session in January.

The measure sponsored by Rep. Mick Devin, would establish an 11-member commission to study and address the negative effects of ocean acidification.If left unchecked, ocean acidification could cause major losses to Maine’s major inshore shellfisheries, including clams, oysters, lobsters, shrimp and sea urchins, risking thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the state’s economy.

“Maine’s marine resources support a billion dollar industry and thousands of jobs,” said Devin. “Ocean acidification has the potential to shut down Maine’s shellfish industry and we can’t afford to lose it.”

Rising levels of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use are in part absorbed by the ocean. Because carbon dioxide and seawater combine to make carbonic acid, these naturally alkaline ocean waters become more acidic. Carbonic acid can dissolve the shells of shellfish, an important commercial marine resource. Over the past two centuries, ocean acidity levels have increased 30 percent.

Devin won his appeal by a vote of 7-3.

Nick Battista, Director of Marine Programs at the Island Institute, says that ocean acidification is one of the least understood threats facing Maine’s economy.

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PMEL and Partners Deploy First Ocean Acidification Mooring in the Indian Ocean

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Week of November 27, 2013

PMEL successfully deployed the first carbon dioxide flux and ocean acidification mooring in the Northern Indian Ocean on November 23.  The Bay of Bengal Ocean Acidification (BOBOA) mooring will help us understand the large intraseasonal, seasonal and interannual biogeochemical variations in the Bay of Bengal, and how the marine ecosystem in the Bay is changing over time.

This mooring is part of the Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) made possible through a close partnership with NOAA and Bay of Bengal partners.  Read more and see live data on the BOBOA Carbon website.

Be part of the OA solution

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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor

Published on 24 October, 2013

It’s too bad that I learned so late about the Oct. 24 deadline to post comments on the U.S. State Department’s website as it drafts the 2014 U.S. Climate Action Report, which will be part of the United Nations’ climate negotiations. Special thanks to Brad Warren of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership for sending this link to me last night as I was watching the World Series (Go Sox!).

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=DOS-2013-0018-0003

If you have the time today, please submit a comment, as the future of the seafood industry obviously depends on healthy oceans. Andfeel free to steal! Copy my letter below, if you wish, and refer to the article I wrote on ocean acidification and its potential impacts on the shellfish industry back in September 2009 (the link is below).

If you’re reading this after Oct. 24, there’s still time to take action. Contact your congressional representatives and urge them tomake the oceans a priority.

Thanks for reading!

***

To whom it may concern,
As you prepare your draft of the 2014 US Climate Action Report, I urge you to take the serious impacts of ocean acidification, or OA, into consideration. Fisheries and aquaculture stand to face irreversible harm ifcarbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are not reined in and controlled. The US commercial fishing industry, and the US and world economies, would be hurt tremendously if the current rate of acidification continues. Every working waterfront in this country could face dire consequences. The impacts of OA are already being felt in shellfish hatcheries on the West Coast, as bivalve shellfish, in particular, are extremely susceptible to even tinychanges in the oceans’ ecosystem and pH levels. They depend on healthy waters rich with nutrients to simply form their shells. I would like to refer you to an article I wrote more than FOUR YEARS ago about the impacts on the seafood industry already. Please take the time to read this article:

http://www.seafoodbusiness.com/articledetail.aspx?id=4294993753

I appreciate your time and efforts and would urge you to put the oceans’ health on the front burner as they are essential to our planet, our pocketbooks and our plans for the future.

Best regards,
James Wright
SeaFood Business
Portland, Maine

– See more at: http://www.seafoodsource.com/en/commentary/seafoodsource-commentary/24677-be-part-of-the-oa-solution#sthash.if1UFK76.dpuf

Ocean Acidification Workshop in Nelson Focuses on Protecting Our Marine Resources

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This past week my deputy Marie Damour traveled to Nelson for a workshop on ocean acidification which our Embassy co-sponsored with the New Zealand government, the NZ seafood industry and the Gordon & Betty Moore foundation. The workshop, titled “Future Proofing New Zealand’s Shellfish Aquaculture:  Monitoring and Adaptation to Ocean Acidification,” was intended to respond to what Secretary of State John Kerry describes as the “economic, environmental, and policy concerns created by increasing levels of carbon dioxide and the resulting acidification of our oceans.”

 

The two-day conference brought together more than 60 shellfish experts to share their knowledge in order to help identify ways to protect New Zealand’s NZ$ 350 million (US$ 285 million) per year aquaculture industry from the effects of climate change. The agenda was organized around two topics identified as top priorities during the 2012 session of the N.Z.-U.S. Joint Commission on Science and Technology Cooperation – (1) Climate Change Monitoring, Research, and Services in the Pacific, and (2) Marine and Ocean Research.

 

Click for source.The Great Barrier Reef.

Coral reefs are particularly sensitive to acidification.

 

Just as climate change has evolved from a purely scientific discussion into a set of significant economic and security concerns, ocean acidification has quickly evolved from a theoretical exercise into a major economic threat. Just looking at the United States, for example, one of every six jobs is marine-related, and more than one-third of the Gross National Product originates in coastal areas.

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European Union is funding a €3.6 million shellfish study to understand affects of OA

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Created on Tuesday, 10 December 2013

A team of international scientists has launched an ambitious mission to understand how the warming and acidification of the world’s oceans will affect Europe’s shellfish.

Currently scientists do not fully understand how species such as oysters, mussels, scallops and clams produce their shells, or how a change in environment will affect their populations. To address this, the European Union is funding a €3.6 million programme called CACHE (Calcium in a Changing Environment).

Coordinated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge this multi-national programme, which aims to train a new generation of marine scientists, will look at every aspect of how the animals produce their shells and strive to identify populations which are resilient to climate change.

The shellfish industry is an important contributor to the European marine economy – dubbed the “Blue economy” – which is currently worth €500 billion every year and provides an estimated 5.4 million jobs.

These relatively small animals play an important role in the oceans because they are a crucial part of marine biodiversity and, as they make their shells out of calcium carbonate, they have a role in absorbing CO2. While the fishery industry built around them provides jobs in rural communities the animals themselves are also seen as an important and healthy food.

Shellfish have been highlighted as being particularly at risk under future climate change scenarios.

The risk comes because their shells are made of calcium carbonate – a substance which dissolves under acidic conditions. As the oceans become warmer and more acidic their shells will either thin, or the animals will have to expend more energy on producing thicker shells. This will affect their population sizes and the quality of the meat they produce, directly affecting the fisheries economy and damaging consumer choice.

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